New study shows a growing number of children are born out of wedlock in Alabama

In Montgomery County, the rate was 58.1percent. (Photo from Takaisono's photostream via Flickr)

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The results of a new study suggest the number of children born out of wedlock in Alabama is on the rise.

The study, which was conducted by the Auburn University at Montgomery Center for Demographic Research, concluded that 42.6 percent of live births in Alabama in 2012 occurred to unmarried women.

That's a slight increase from 2010, when
41.9 percent of registered births were to unmarried women.

In counties such as Macon, Wilcox, Sumter, Dallas, Lowndes, Perry, and Greene, the study showed that at least seven out of 10 children were born to unmarried women in 2012.

Shelby County had the lowest rate of births to unmarried women at 17.7 percent, followed by Winston County with 24.2 percent and Blount County with 24.7 percent. In Montgomery County, the rate was 58.1 percent.

“Such high rates of birth to unmarried women is partly the result of economic hardship,” said Yanyi Djamba, director of the AUM Center for Demographic Research and leading author of the report. “Counties with higher rates of out-of-wedlock births tend to have lower household income and higher unemployment rates – two important factors of marriage and social mobility.”

However, the study also showed the state’s population under the age of five is declining due to lower birth rates registered in the last several years. More than half of the counties registered a decrease in the percent of population below age five between 2010 and 2012.